VHT Day Two: South Central tops Pana, SEB falls short

As Saturday morning's action began at the 43rd Annual Vandalia Holiday Tournament, two teams were searching for their first win in Pool A.
And when the day's first game concluded, the South Central Cougars were winless no more.
The Cougars used a big second half rally to knock off Pana, 45-43, on Day Two of the VHT.
It was the first win at the event for the Cougars. And it was an impressive one.
South Central overcame a 15-point deficit to shock the Panthers.
"Any win here is a big win," South Central Coach Rick Simmons said. "It's a special win because it came here, and it was against a pretty good team. I'm just happy for the kids."
Simmons was also pleased at the way his team responded after being down early.
"In the first half we were running around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off," Simmons said. "We eventually calmed down."
Brett Harmeier scored 13 points to lead South Central, while Dylen Peters added 11. Harmeier came up big down the stretch, hitting a key jumper and making two big free throws.
"Brett came through for us," Simmons said.
Pana scored the first 11 points of the game, as the Cougars had six early turnovers. South Central used a 9-4 run to get back into the game. Pana led, 15-9, after one period.
The Panthers had a 15-point lead early in the second quarter and led, 30-19, at halftime.
The game changed drastically in the third period, as Pana did not score a single point the entire frame. South Central went on a 12-0 run to take a 31-30 lead.
The Panthers struggled mightily against South Central's zone in the quarter.
"We forced them to shoot some outside shots, and we kept the ball out of the middle," Simmons said. "We didn't give them any easy shots."
The game was tied at 40 late in the fourth quarter when Harmeier hit a big three-pointer for the Cougars. Pana's Blake Stauder hit a trey of his own to tie the game at 43. Harmeier then hit two free throws with 45 seconds left and both teams missed free throws. Pana missed two last-second shots from the perimeter and the Cougars  (4-6) held on for an exciting win.
Nick Copley scored nine points for Pana, which fell to 0-2 in pool play.

Flora 67, St. Elmo/Brownstown 52
Bryce Pearce scored 24 points as Flora beat St. Elmo/Brownstown, 67-52.
SEB got 14 points from Malachi Maxey and 12 points and nine boards from Landon Feezel.
The game was tied at 10 after one period, but Flora's Pearce got hot from the outside in the second period. Flora pulled away for a 31-19 halftime lead.
The Wolves took a 51-34 lead into the final frame. Pearce scored four-straight and it was 59-38. Dylan Brooks hit long buzzer-beater for the final margin.
Flora made 21 of 31 two-pointers and only five of 21 from long distance. SEB hit half of its shots (21 of 42). Flora improved to 2-0 in pool play. SEB fell to 0-2 in the event and 3-7 on the season.

Saturday's VHT results
South Central 45, Pana 43
SC   9    10   12    14 — 45
PA  15    15    0    13 — 43
South Central: Harmeier 5 2-2 13, Ratermann 0 2-3 2, Hill 1 1-1 3, Langley 3 0-0 6, Riley 2 0-0 4, Arnold 0 0-0 0, Peters 4 3-3 11, Powless 3 0-0 6. Totals 17 (1) 8-9 45. Three-pointers: Harmeier. Rebounds 25 (Powless 7). Fouls 16. Turnovers 33.
Pana: Copley 4 0-0 9, Stauder 2 1-2 7, Kircher 2 0-0 5, Miller 2 0-0 4, England 1 0-0 2, Lynch 1 1-6 3, Zahradka 2 0-0 4, DeWerff 2 3-5 7, Clark 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 (4) 5-13 43. Three-pointers: Stauder 2, Copley, Kircher. Rebounds 29 (Lynch 6). Fouls 14. Turnovers 20.

Flora 67, St. Elmo/Brownstown 52
SE   10    9    15    18  — 52
FL    10  21   20     16 —  67
St. Elmo/Brownstown: Austin 1 0-0 2, Brooks 1 0-0 3, Maxey 5 1-1 14, Kroll 0 0-0 0, Matthews 2 0-0 4, Smithson 1 2-5 4, Feezel 5 2-4 12, Koerte 1 0-0 2, Oberlink 1 0-0 2, Hardimon 4 1-2 9. Totals 17 (4) 6-12 52. Three-pointers: Maxey 3, Brooks. Rebounds 22 (Feezel 9). Fouls 15. Turnovers 14.
Flora: Pearce 10 0-0 24, Smith 4 5-6 13, Leib 3 2-5 8, Gocey 4 0-0 9, Litaker 1 1-2 3, Moses 3 0-0 6, Scott 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 (5) 10-15 67. Three-pointers: Pearce 4, Gocey. Rebounds 26 (Leib 5). Fouls 11. Turnovers 7.

 

Greenville, St. Anthony stay undefeated on Day Two of VHT

By the time Day Two of the 43rd Annual Vandalia Holiday Tournament came to an end on Saturday night, two teams appeared headed for a showdown in the title game — Greenville and St. Anthony.

St. Anthony 56, Maroa 50
The St. Anthony Bulldogs improved to 3-0 in Pool B with a close win over Maroa-Forsyth.
St. Anthony had an 18-4 advantage by the end of the first quarter. The Trojans fought back in the second period, using a 25-11 spurt to tie the game at 29.
Maroa-Forsyth held a 39-38 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs got it done in crunch time, making five of six late free throws.
Derek Rios scored 10 points for the balanced Bulldogs. Brody Adreon led M-F with 14 points.

Greenville 64, Shelbyville 38
No. 1 seed Greenville also stayed undefeated at the VHT with Saturday night's 64-38 win over Shelbyville.
Tyler Hutchinson scored 14 points, Jacob Hall added 10 points and eight rebounds and five other players scored at least six points apiece for the Comets, who improved to 3-0 in Pool A.
Tyler Hendryx and Devin Peterson scored eight points apiece for the Rams.

Altamont splits on Day Two
In other games on Saturday, Altamont split its two games.

Altamont 62, Shelbyville 55
The Indians had a 31-14 lead by halftime.
The Rams put together a much-better second half, but Altamont did more than enough to get the win.
Ryan Armstrong scored 20 points and had seven rebounds for Altamont and Tristan Wade scored 21 for the Rams.

Pana 71, Altamont 65
Pana held on late and knocked off Altamont, 71-65.
The game was tied at 44 after three quarters of play before the Panthers pulled ahead and held off the Indians late in an intense contest.
Three players were in double figures for Pana — Blake Stauder with 17, Jordan Clark with 13 and Rhett Zahradka with 12. Adam Mayhaus scored 22 points for Altamont and Ryan Armstrong added 12.